WTA 1000 ATP 1000 Miami 3/21 - 4/2 2023

[Deuce]

Why do all the seeds get a bye?

It's the same as Indian Wells, and the same as it's been since I ever remember.

Rough draws for the Canadian women. Andreescu (who just missed a seed, and is back up to number 31 (that is, a seeded position) in the new rankings), Fernandez and Marino get Raducanu, a qualifier and Putintseva in the first round, then Sakkari (7), Bencic (9) and Gauff (6) if they make it to the second.

Yeah - Leylah's ranked about #50 now, so she won't be getting any favourable draws as a seed for a while it seems... and Marino will only be seeded in smaller tournaments, if that.
When you're not seeded, anything can happen, of course - and with the parity in the WTA these days, the chances of meeting a very good player in the first or second round are pretty high.

Leylah has drawn Tsurenko first. That could be difficult - both because Tsurenko is a quality player, and because of what she is going through now due to the situation in her home country of Ukraine.

[ashkor87]

Always difficult to follow up a good performance with an equally good performance at Miami, which is why the 'sunshine double' is so special...
So we should not expect Rybakina to win again, but I think Alcaraz will, he is strong and resilient..Sabalenka, Swiatek, Rybakina should do well again, conditions are similar. But Miami is very humid so people like Kvitova and (maybe) Krejcikova will struggle a bit...

Rybakina said IW played more slowly than the French Open, and Opelka backed her up (he was asked about the comment on a podcast). How do Miami's courts compare?

Based on last year's experience, Miami will also be slow, possibly even slower. Than Iw

[meganfernandez]

Why do all the seeds get a bye?

It was the arrangement after they dropped from 128 players to 96. And it was the players saying that Miami was too tough because it was identical to the Slams' format.

I just think top 8 or maybe 16 could get byes. Not 32. Seems excessive.

[ashkor87]

Well, once you have 32 seeds, which is absurd in itself....

[mick1303]

Why do all the seeds get a bye?

It was the arrangement after they dropped from 128 players to 96. And it was the players saying that Miami was too tough because it was identical to the Slams' format.

I just think top 8 or maybe 16 could get byes. Not 32. Seems excessive.

If they make only 8 top seeds having byes, this means 120 players draw. A lot of 1st round matches, the existing venue can't accommodate within the schedule.

[ponchi101]

Especially at the new Hard Rock stadium. Crandon Park could handle the load, but we know how that went.

[meganfernandez]

Always difficult to follow up a good performance with an equally good performance at Miami, which is why the 'sunshine double' is so special...
So we should not expect Rybakina to win again, but I think Alcaraz will, he is strong and resilient..Sabalenka, Swiatek, Rybakina should do well again, conditions are similar. But Miami is very humid so people like Kvitova and (maybe) Krejcikova will struggle a bit...

Rybakina said IW played more slowly than the French Open, and Opelka backed her up (he was asked about the comment on a podcast). How do Miami's courts compare?

Based on last year's experience, Miami will also be slow, possibly even slower. Than Iw

Mark Pechey just said during Mertens/Parks that the courts are pretty fast, but it could be the balls.

[JTContinental]

Alycia Parks is not currently handling the pressure of being a higher profile player very well. It's still early days though, and I hope she can make the adjustment.

[nelslus]

Alycia Parks is not currently handling the pressure of being a higher profile player very well. It's still early days though, and I hope she can make the adjustment.

She is freakin' talented. Thing is, early in the year, she made all these pronouncements about how she saw herself making the top 10 by the end of this year. Over and over again, and almost always- when players do that, they end up screwing up. You've put a lot of pressure on yourself- AND set a target, especially for veteran players who want to show the newbie not to brag.

AND, what's strange is, she just seems so miserable and negative on the courts. It's really been unpleasant to watch her play lately. I thought for a minute that, hey, maybe the courts she had been playing on- the courts, etc., just weren't to her liking.

OH, well.

AND, just perhaps. let me point out that ashkor87 might have been a tad premature anointing Alycia as a Wimbledon champion.

[nelslus]

OK, it looks like Siniakova dropped out, up 6-3, 3-3 vs. Claire Liu. Does anyone know what happened?

[ponchi101]

She was picked by several for the practice SP (myself included).
But indeed, strange score to retire from.

[dave g]

I am seeing that the Schmiedlova/Davis match is cancelled on LiveScores. Does anyone have any news on this?

[Deuce]

Preliminary Canadian report...
Rebecca Marino with a good straight set win today over Putinseva...
Katherine Sebov, who got through qualifying and has very little experience in 1000 level tournaments, took the 1st set off of Linda Fruhvirtova, and they are at 3-3 in the 2nd. Being ahead of a high profile player like this at a 1000 event might frighten Sebov into nervousness. We'll see...

[ti-amie]

I'm watching Giorgi vs Kanepi. They split the first two TB sets and Giorgi is up 2-0, 15-40 in the third set.

[skatingfan]

Preliminary Canadian report...
Rebecca Marino with a good straight set win today over Putinseva...
Katherine Sebov, who got through qualifying and has very little experience in 1000 level tournaments, took the 1st set off of Linda Fruhvirtova, and they are at 3-3 in the 2nd. Being ahead of a high profile player like this at a 1000 event might frighten Sebov into nervousness. We'll see...

Thank-you - I was very confused because I saw Fruhvirtova losing to Wang, and wondered what happened to Sebov - didn't realize that there were two Fruhvirtova's in the draw.